pie chart

Eldritch Captain of the Deep [Lovecraftian Primer]

Commander / EDH Bracket 4 Dark Depths Horror Mill Primer Theme/Gimmick UB (Dimir) Vorthos

UltimateRoxas40

Upvote 0
0

Land (34)

Planeswalker (3)

Creature (27)

Artifact (8)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Captain N'ghathrod

Sorcery (11)

Instant (10)

Enchantment (6)

Sideboard

Creature (6)

Land (2)

Sorcery (1)

Maybeboard

Creature (5)

Artifact (1)

“I have looked upon all the universe has to hold of horror, and even the skies of spring and flowers of summer must ever afterward be poison to me.”

― H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

This was originally my Lazav, Eldritch Mastermind *Retired*, a Lovecraftian take on Lazav, Dimir Mastermind. It was the first commander deck that I build from scratch rather than modifying a precon. I originally had a standard/kitchen table Dimir Mill deck that I played for a while during the Return to Ravnica Block, but once I discovered the EDH format, I quickly switched it over.

However, after years of playing, it never really did what I wanted. It was fun and thematic, but it rarely won, and the deck heavily relied upon what our opponents were playing. Then, Captain N'ghathrodfoil was introduced, and he instantly became the primary commander for this deck. He fits thematically with one of my favorite Lovecraft stories, 'The Shadow over Innsmouth', which was obviously used as inspiration for the Shadows over Innistrad and Eldritch Moon sets (which, coincidentally, is what brought me back to MtG for good!).

Now I have a definite plan to win besides 'Mill out our opponents and hope they have good stuff in their deck I can copy with Lazav, Dimir Mastermind'. I can unleash my horrors upon my opponents, steal their most precious or powerful creatures and artifacts, and Mill them into Madness!

I've been a huge fan of Lovecraft and his weird fiction for a long time, so this deck pays homage to his work, with a heavier emphasis on the works of his Cthulhu Mythos. While this is not meant to be a super competitive deck, it was designed to mill our opponents, steal pieces from their decks, unleash horrors unto the world, summon the Old Ones and other Outer Gods, and cause general madness to everyone in a fun Vorthos/Lore-inspired way.

Our Commander

Captain N'ghathrodfoil - Captain on deck! He gives all our horrors the ability to mill our opponents for however much damage they are dealt, which is helped by the Menace that he gives to all our horrors, including himself. Then, at the beginning of our end step, he can steal cards out of an opponent's graveyard.

Three important things to note:

  1. Captain N'ghathrodfoil can only take Creatures and Artifacts.

  2. He can only take cards that were put there during our current turn. This restriction makes us not use other Milling cards that hit on other players' turns, since we wouldn't be able to take advantage of them with Captain N'ghathrodfoil's ability.

  3. He can only take cards that were put in the graveyard from the Library (ie. Milling, Consuming Aberrationfoil). Discard effects don't count toward his ability.

Milling out our opponents and driving them to madness

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of the infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.”

  • Altar of the Broodfoil - Our altar to worship the Old Ones! A great early drop, whenever another permanent comes into play under our control, each opponent Mills 1 card. A great way to start taking choice cards from our opponent's graveyards with Captain N'ghathrodfoil's end-of-turn ability. Shout out to Willen for reminding me about this card and its lore/flavor.

  • Consuming Aberrationfoil - This monstrous Horror can become massive if left unchecked, and also makes our opponents reveal cards from their library until their next land whenever we cast a spell. And that triggers for each opponent too, so a single spell could increase its power dramatically. And especially potent if Captain N'ghathrodfoil is on the field giving it Menace. IMPORTANT NOTE: This type of effect is not technically Mill, so while it will trigger Captain N'ghathrodfoil, it won't trigger something like Zellix, Sanity Flayerfoil that specifically care about the Mill keyword.

  • Court of Cunningfoil - At its worst, this enchantment mills any number of players for two cards on our upkeep, which is similar to other enchantments like Curse of the Bloody Tomefoil or Memory Erosionfoil, both of which I've had in this deck before. At its best, we are milling at least 30 cards a turn with a four-player group. This gives Captain N'ghathrodfoil plenty of options to steal during our turn. Plus, Monarch is a fun mechanic for a large group, and once/if the Monarch is taken from us, we can let someone else be the target of attacks while we sit back and Mill everyone out.

  • Drown in Dreams - Can either draw us X cards or Mill 2x the X value. If Captain N'ghathrodfoil is on deck, we can use both modes. If we have enough mana and our Captain out, using both modes at once can secure a win if we have enough mana.

  • Duskmantle Guildmagefoil - This cultist wizard has two activated abilities. The first is the more important one, as we can weaponize the milling process and drain life equal to the number of cards milled, like with Traumatizefoil. The second ability is a little pricey for such a low effect, but if you've got available mana, you can ruin someone's Sylvan Library, Brainstorm, or Vampiric Tutorfoil play.

  • Extract from Darknessfoil - Each player Mills 2 cards, then we take a creature from a graveyard and put it on the battlefield under our control. It doesn't have to be a creature that was put there by this effect, and we can hit something in our graveyard too.

  • Fractured Sanityfoil - for , each opponent Mills 14 cards, or we can cycle it and each opponent Mills four cards.

  • Imperious Mindbreaker - This creature Soulbonds to another creature, and gives both itself and that creature a 'Mill on attack' trigger equal to its Toughness. If we've got a beefy creature in play like Captain N'ghathrodfoil or Emrakul, the Promised Endfoil, we can mill a lot of cards quickly, and that's even before combat damage.

  • Jace, Memory Adeptfoil - His +1 Mills 1 card from target player and we draw a card. More importantly, his 0 Mills 10 cards, turning him into a repeatable Glimpse the Unthinkable.

  • Jace, the Perfected Mindfoil - His -2 ability makes target player Mill three cards, then draws us either one card or three cards if a graveyard has more than 20 cards in it. His -X makes target player Mill three times X cards.

  • Jace, Wielder of Mysteriesfoil - Slightly cheaper than Jace, Memory Adeptfoil and has a slightly more impactful +1 too, Milling two cards rather than one, but since he doesn't have a 0, he can dedicate himself to constantly Milling two and drawing a card. Plus he carries a surprise win-con if our opponents aren't expecting us to suddenly Mill ourself out.

  • Maddening Cacophonyfoil - Each opponent Mills 8 cards, but with a kicker cost of , each opponent mills half their library. Definitely worth it to hold onto until we have enough mana to kick this spell.

  • Nemesis of Reasonfoil - This nightmarish creature mills 10 cards on the attack trigger, it doesn't have to connect to get the effect. Similar to and can stack with Imperious Mindbreaker for a ton of cards milled.

  • Nephalia Drownyardfoil - A bit expensive, but for 3 mana, we can Mill an opponent 3 cards.

  • Phenax, God of Deceptionfoil - A more defensive milling creature, all we need to do is wait until just before our turn, then tap all our remaining untapped creatures and mill out a lot of cards, and many of our creatures have a high Toughness. And since it's Indestructible and sometimes not a creature, Phenax, God of Deceptionfoil can get around a lot of removals.

  • Restless Reeffoil - For (effectively five mana since we can't use this land for mana), we can turn this land into a 4/4 Shark with Deathtouch and whenever it attacks, target player Mills four cards. It doesn't even have to be the same player we are attacking. We can spread the love a little.

  • Roaming Thronefoil - Depending on the creature type we choose when this creature ETBs, we can double up on our triggered abilities (When, Whenever, At). Since we are almost always going to choose Horrors, there are a lot of triggers we can abuse. We can double up both of Captain N'ghathrodfoil's triggers, milling twice and stealing two cards, or put two slime counters on all of our opponent's creatures with Toxrill, the Corrosivefoil. Lots of fun possibilities.

  • Ruin Crabfoil - A nice drop, good turn one or two play to start getting cards into our opponents' graveyards. Obviously, we want Captain N'ghathrodfoil on the field to be able and take advantage of anything that enters our opponent's graveyards, but it could provide good targets for Animate Deadfoil or Reanimate.

  • Startled Awakefoil   - Target opponent Mills 13, but can come back as a 1/1 Skulk to cast the spell again potentially.

  • Traumatizefoil - Target opponent mills half their library.

  • Zellix, Sanity Flayerfoil - For , target player mills three cards. But the really important part is whenever a player mills one or more creatures, we create a 1/1 Horror Token. I wish that it was a Token for each creature milled, but that might be too much. If we pair it with a mill spell that hits everyone, we can make multiple 1/1 Horror Tokens.

Mill Payoffs and Synergies

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear.”

  • Animate Deadfoil - Steal a creature from any graveyard.

  • Breach the Multiversefoil - This has a high CMC, but has a massive impact. Each player Mills 10 cards, then we can take a creature or planeswalker from each graveyard and put it onto the battlefield under our control.

  • Bruvac the Grandiloquentfoil - The Doubling Season of Milling. Double the number of cards milled. If he is in play, Traumatizefoil will kill a player, and a kicked Maddening Cacophonyfoil can win you the game (baring any opponents with Laboratory Maniac or Thassa's Oracle).

  • Consuming Aberrationfoil - Can become a massive beater that continues to grow if left unchecked.

  • Drown in the Lochfoil - This flexible counter or kill spell is dependent on the number of cards in the respective graveyard.

  • Fraying Sanityfoil - While this card doesn't mill anyone directly, it does count the number of cards they put in the graveyard, then mills that player accordingly. This works with them cracking Fetchlands, discarding, and milling effects.

  • Grimoire of the Deadfoil - Fairly mana intensive and best used in the late game, but if we've been filling up our opponent's graveyards, we could potentially overwhelm or outvalue the rest of the table.

  • Guiltfeeder - While lots of EDH decks have Black and Artifact creatures, Guiltfeeder can fairly easily slip past our opponent's defenses and drain their life if there are cards in their graveyards.

  • Lazav, Dimir Mastermind - Whenever a creature is put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, Lazav, Dimir Mastermind can become a copy of that creature. He maintains his name and his legendary status, and can repeat this process whenever another creature enters an opponent's graveyard. And he's got built-in Hexproof, which is a nice bit of defense against the various removal effects.

  • Reanimatefoil - Steal a creature from any graveyard.

  • The Haunt of Hightowerfoil - Another potentially large beater, but this one has both Flying and Lifelink. We might be needing the extra life to stay alive long enough to win the game, and the forced Discard is nice too.

  • Wrexial, the Risen Deepfoil - If an opponent has a Swampfoil or Islandfoil in play or an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmothfoil is on the table, this Kraken can hit any opponent unblocked and cast an Instant or Sorcery for free from their graveyard. I really wish this was also a Horror.

Horrors

“In his house at R'lyeh, dead Cthulu waits dreaming”

Milling our opponents out is one way to kill our opponents. Dragging them into the unknown by our horde of Horrors is another!

  • Aboleth Spawn - This horror copies ETBs, and has Flash, so we can surprise an opponent and enjoy their effects.

  • Ancient Cellarspawn - This Enchantment creature makes our Demons, Horrors, and/or Nightmares cost less to cast. Plus, we can cause some small life loss through the difference between the spells mana value and the amount of mana used to cast it.

  • Consuming Aberrationfoil - Grows stronger for each card in our opponent's graveyard.

  • Endless Evil - Enchants a creature we control, and on our Upkeep, we create a 1/1 Token copy of said creature, and if the enchanted creature dies, we can return Endless Evil to our hand. We can create copies of some of our non-Legendary creatures for extra value, like Nemesis of Reason, Sludge Monster, or Guiltfeeder.

  • Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholarfoil - Gives us card draw if we connect with an opponent, but we can also bounce the creature back to our hand if it's blocked and might die from the exchange.

  • Hullbreaker Horrorfoil - One of our big finishers. Can turn our spells into pseudo-Counter Spells or bounce a creature back to its owner's hand.

  • Hunted Horrorfoil - A cheap, yet strong Horror that can come out very early on. Also provides a chance to play politics by giving an opponent some 3/3 Centaurs with Protection from Black.

  • Mind Flayer, the Shadowfoil - Another big finisher. Steals us cards to play at the end of turn, and once we have three stolen permanents on our field, it turns into a 9/9 beater. And since it doesn't care how those stolen permanents got to our side, it could easily be cast and immediately be online as a 9/9 monstrous threat.

  • Mutated Cultistfoil - A small Horror, but a secondary piece of our Dark Depthsfoil combo, allowing our cultist to draw out an Eldritch horror.

  • Nemesis of Reasonfoil - On the attack trigger, the defending opponent Mills 10 cards.

  • Nighthowlerfoil - For , we can Bestow this power boost to one of our creatures, and once/if that enchanted creature dies, then this becomes another threat.

  • Psionic Ritual - For , we can Exile an Instant or Sorcery out of any graveyard, copy it, and cast it for free, then Exile Psionic Ritual. However, we can Replicate it by tapping any number of untapped Horrors, and copying Psionic Ritual that many times, choosing new targets each time. Go grab any number of ramp or kill spells in the graveyards.

  • Silent Hallcreeperfoil - A small unblockable Horror creature with huge potential. It can grow stronger, draw us a card, and become a copy of another one of our creatures. While there is flexibility in the order in which we choose its abilities, once we turn it into another one of our creatures, it loses the unblockability and any of the other 'growth' abilities it hadn't used yet.

  • Sludge Monsterfoil - On ETB or attack, we can put a slime counter on up to one other creature, and if it's a non-Horror creature, we turn it into a 2/2 with no abilities. A good way to remove a commander or other indestructible threat.

  • Thing in the Icefoil   - A cheap Defender for a few turns until we've cast four Instant or Sorcery spells, then it transforms, and bounces all non-Horror creatures back to their owner's hands. Cheaper than a Cyclonic Riftfoil.

  • Toxrill, the Corrosivefoil - Our last major finisher, and quite a Toxic one too (No relation to Phyrexia)! Weakens our opponent's boards, creates 1/1 Slugs, and can draw cards off those tokens too.

  • Uchuulon - Power and Toughness are equal to the number of Crabs, Oozes, and Horrors we control. And at the beginning of our end step, we can exile a creature from an opponent's graveyard and create a Token copy of it.

  • Zellix, Sanity Flayerfoil - Whenever a player Mills a creature, we create a 1/1 Horror Token.

“That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons even death may die.”

Grimoire of the Deadfoil - If utilized in the late game, we could unleash the dead and overwhelm and outvalue the rest of the table.

“It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster than any subway train—a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and unforming as pustules of greenish light all over the tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its kind had swept so evilly free of all litter.”

Dark Depthsfoil + Thespian's Stagefoil - Quickly create a 20/20 Indestructible Flying Avatar creature token called Marit Lage

A Classic combo. Have both lands in play. Normally, you'd need to activate Dark Depthsfoil ten times for mana each time to remove all ten Ice Counters to summon Marit Lage. However, we can activate Thespian's Stagefoil's second ability to become a copy of Dark Depthsfoil but with no Ice Counters on it. The legend rule will happen due to state-based actions, causing us to sacrifice the original Dark Depthsfoil. Then the copy of Dark Depthsfoil's trigger will occur, causing us to sacrifice it and create a 20/20 Marit Lage legendary creature token.

Pieces of this combo can be tutored for with Expedition Map, Tolaria Westfoil, as well as our other tutors.

An alternate version of this combo is Dark Depthsfoil + Mutated Cultistfoil - With Dark Depthsfoil in play, we can then cast Mutated Cultistfoil to immediately pull all the counters off of Dark Depthsfoil to summon Marit Lage.

“It is absolutely necessary, for the peace and safety of mankind, that some of earth's dark, dead corners and unplumbed depths be let alone; lest sleeping abnormalities wake to resurgent life, and blasphemously surviving nightmares squirm and splash out of their black lairs to newer and wider conquests.”

Cabal Coffersfoil + Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmothfoil

Another Classic combo. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmothfoil turns all of our existing lands into Swamps, then for , , we can generate amount of , where is the number of Swamps we have. A good way to accelerate our mana if we want to cast a big hitter like Emrakul, the Promised Endfoil, Mind Flayer, the Shadowfoil, or Toxrill, the Corrosivefoil earlier than we are supposed to.

Pieces of this combo can be tutored for with Expedition Map, Tolaria Westfoil, as well as our other tutors.

″The Thing cannot be described - there is no language for such abysms of shrieking and immemorial lunacy, such eldritch contradictions of all matter, force, and cosmic order.”

Mutated Cultistfoil + Thing in the Icefoil   - Quickly remove ice counters and flip into a powerful Horror and pseudo-Cyclonic Riftfoil.

With Thing in the Icefoil   on the field, we can play Mutated Cultistfoil to instantly remove all the Ice counters. This doesn't immediately flip it like Dark Depthsfoil, we still need to cast an instant or sorcery to activate the transformation.

"Some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new Dark Age."

Traumatizefoil/Maddening Cacophonyfoil(KICKED) + Fraying Sanityfoil - Player enchanted with Fraying Sanityfoil mills their entire library.

Traumatizefoil + Bruvac the Grandiloquentfoil - Target opponent mills their entire library.

Maddening Cacophonyfoil(KICKED) + Bruvac the Grandiloquentfoil - Each opponent mills their entire library.

“They worshipped, so they said, the Great Old Ones who lived ages before there were any men, and who came to the young world out of the sky.

Traumatizefoil/KICKED Maddening Cacophonyfoil + Duskmantle Guildmagefoil - Activate Duskmantle Guildmagefoil's first ability for , then cast either spell and potentially deal enough damage to knock everyone out.

"Ocean is more ancient than the mountains, and freighted with the memories and the dreams of Time."

Jace, Wielder of Mysteriesfoil + Traumatizefoil/Fraying Sanityfoil/Drown in Dreams - Surprise your opponents by Milling yourself out and winning with Jace, Wielder of Mysteriesfoil's static ability.

″This was that cult, and the prisoners said it had always existed and always would exist, hidden in distant wastes and dark places all over the world until the time when the great priest Cthulhu, from his dark house in the mighty city of R’lyeh under the waters, should rise and bring the earth again beneath his sway.”

Mindcrankfoil + Duskmantle Guildmagefoil - Activate Duskmantle Guildmagefoil's first ability for , then pay for each opponent you want to mill out (or some other card that can mill multiple people). They will take X damage, X being the number of cards Milled. Mindcrankfoil will see that damage loss, then make them Mill X card, X being the life lost. This will continuously loop until our opponents have decked themselves.

“Who knows the end? What has risen may sink, and what has sunk may rise. Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep, and decay spreads over the tottering cities of men.”

Hullbreaker Horrorfoil + Sol Ringfoil + Altar of the Broodfoil - Our one Infinite Combo. If Hullbreaker Horrorfoil is on the field, and Sol Ring is on the field and Altar of the Broodfoil is in hand, we can Mill out the entire table.

With Hullbreaker Horrorfoil on the field, we can tap Sol Ringfoil for , then cast Altar of the Broodfoil for and bounce Sol Ringfoil back to our hand. With the remaining for , recast Sol Ringfoil, which will re-trigger Hullbreaker Horrorfoil to bounce Altar of the Broodfoil back to our hand, then repeat ad nauseam.

"It lumbered slobberingly into sight and gropingly squeezed its gelatinous green immensity through the black doorway into the tainted outside air of that poison city of madness."

Toxrill, the Corrosivefoil + Sludge Monsterfoil - Put a Slime counter on each creature we don't control at the end of each turn, then all non-Horror creatures all get a base Power/Toughness of 2/2 and lose all abilities. On the first End step, each non-Horror creature our opponents control effectively becomes a 1/1 creature with no abilities, then they should die on the next end step when Toxrill, the Corrosivefoil puts another Slime counter on their creatures.

Lovecraft Stories, Themes, and their Noodlely Counterparts:

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents.” ― H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

As I said above, this deck pays homage to the works of H.P. Lovecraft. While the most well-known part of his work is the Great Old One Cthulhu from H.P. Lovecraft's short story 'The Call of Cthulhu' (1928), there are many more stories that he wrote that encompass weird fiction or cosmic horror.

I'm not going to write extensive comparisons or story summaries, just major characters and the general flow of the story as represented by cards. If you're interested, I'd highly recommend reading his literature.

Lovecraftian Protagonists

Many Lovecraftian protagonists are seekers of truth or accidentally stumble upon something they shouldn't have, and often lose their minds. In this deck, Jace takes the role of a Lovecraftian protagonist. He usually begins the stories as Jace, Memory Adeptfoil, a young, naive man eager to increase his knowledge of the cosmos.

  • If he survives his adventure and comes out (relatively) unscathed, he becomes Jace, Wielder of Mysteriesfoil, one who is able to face the cosmic horrors.

  • However, if he instead succumbs to madness, he is reborn as Jace, the Perfected Mindfoil, a slave to his madness and the Great Old Ones.

  • Bruvac the Grandiloquentfoil - The wise old man or scholar, like Professor Armitage from 'The Dunwich Horror' or Professor Angell from 'The Call of Cthulhu', this character has an extensive knowledge of the world, numerous contacts of like-minded fellows, and has, invariably, read the Necronomicon (see below), regardless of their field of study, whether it be literature, architecture, or geology.

  • Emrakul, the Promised Endfoil - Discussed more below, but there could be no other creature to best represent the Great Old One Cthulhu. A monstrous god that has been sleeping/sealed/trapped for vigintillion (10^63) years in the sunken corpse-city of R’lyeh, but can psychically communicate through dreams and visions, and has numerous bloodthirsty and murderous cults devoted to it.

  • Grimoire of the Deadfoil - Perhaps even more famous than Cthulhu, this book represents the Necronomicon, a rare book discussing the secrets and arcana of the Lovecraftian Mythos Pantheon of Outer, Elder, and Old Gods. Written by the 'Mad Arab' Abdul Alhazred in CE 700 before he was "seized by an invisible monster in broad daylight and devoured horribly before a large number of fright-frozen witnesses", the book and all original copies were thought destroyed, although a few copies were translated into Greek, and then into Latin. Now, roughly five copies exist today, held in prestigious university libraries across the world.

  • Lazav, Dimir Mastermind - My take on Nyarlathotep, God of a Thousand Forms. An Outer God and shapeshifter who prefers to live among mankind, causing madness and chaos wherever he wanders. A pseudo-liaison between the Eldritch beings and the humans and cultists.

“Where does madness leave off and reality begin?” ― H.P. Lovecraft, The Shadow over Innsmouth

Our unnamed narrator tells the tale of his side trip to shadow-blighted Innsmouth, and the horrible stories and truths he discovers there.

  • Our unnamed narratorfoil is an eager student on an antiquarian tour of the New England area when he first hears of the old and reviled Massachusetts town of Innsmouthfoil. Once a prosperous fishing hamletfoil and shipping portfoil, it has now become a decrepit town that most people avoid.

  • The Esoteric Order of Dagon (Duskmantle Guildmagefoil), the primary religious order that Captain Obed Marshfoil founded after visiting a mysterious island in the South Seas. Captain Obed Marshfoil would travel out to Devil's Reeffoil established the covenant with the Deep Ones to bring prosperity to Innsmouth. They have a pseudo-Masonic Templefoil structure, requiring multiple levels of Oaths and secret ceremonies for all who join them. The primary objects of worship and devotion are Father Dagonfoil and Mother Hydrafoil.

  • The fatefoil of poor old Zadok Allen, the aged resident who told too much to our narrator as he was investigating the town and the Esoteric Order of Dagon and led the townsfolk to try and capture our narrator before his eventual escape.

  • The revelationfoil and eventual fatefoil of the narrator, once he researchesfoil and confirms his true connectionfoil with the town of Innsmouth and the Deep Ones underwater city of Y'ha-nthlei.

“In his house at R’lyeh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.” ― H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

Arguably H.P. Lovecraft's most famous short story. It is split into three separate stories from different time periods, all revolving around a fanatical and dangerous cult worshipping a mysterious entity known as 'Cthulhu'. These three stories had been combined and prefaced by Francis Thurston, our narrator, that they should never be read lest the reader is silenced by the cult.

The Horror in Clay

Francis Thurston's great uncle Professor Angellfoil meets with an artist who has developed strange, eldritch dreams and nightmaresfoil about a sunken, Cyclopean city, and the terrifying entity found within. In a fit of madnessfoil, the artist creates a Bas-relief sculpturefoil of what he could understand and gives it to the Professor.

The Tale of Inspector Legrasse

Professor Angell recalls an account from an Inspector from Louisiana, who had a terrifying encounter with the cultists in the swamps of New Orleans.

The Madness from the Sea

Francis Thurston recovers an account of a Norwegian sailor who, while at sea with his crew, was attacked by another group of cultists, and somehow ended up on a mysterious island city that appeared to have risen from the sea floor, and discover the horrible truth within.

“It is absolutely necessary, for the peace and safety of mankind, that some of earth’s dark, dead corners and unplumbed depths be let alone.” ― H.P. Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness

“Damn it, it wasn’t quite fresh enough!” ― H.P. Lovecraft, Herbert West—Reanimator

The heartwarming story of two misfits who constantly try to bring back corpses with science, a little bit of weird magic, and a lot of graverobbing.

"The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, They walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen. Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth." ― H.P. Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror

These are some of the cards I've had in previous versions of this deck.

  • Grell Philosopher - A cool creature, but not as impactful as I wanted. Being able to pseudo ramp by turning our Horrors into Sol Ring's or some other mana rock would be nice, but during my playtests, that happened only once.

  • Manic Scribe - Not helpful in this deck because we want to Mill during our turns, not on our opponent's upkeep

  • Mindshrieker - Good early drop, but not impactful enough.

  • Grinning Totemfoil - This acts like a tutor for Lazav, Dimir Mastermind. We can play it, sacrifice it, then search for a card in our opponent's deck. We have until our next upkeep to cast the stolen card, otherwise, it goes into their graveyard. Unfortunately, our new commander only cares about Milled cards, and this doesn't count.

  • Curse of the Bloody Tomefoil - Power Creep is real! This card has been slowly outclassed by other versions like Memory Erosion, although its subtype as a Curse makes it niche in the right decks. Court of Cunningfoil basically does the same thing, hits more players, and has a much higher ceiling.

  • Mind Grind - With the way Mill has been turned into an Evergreen word, this ability doesn't actually mill. Milling is putting cards straight from the library to the graveyard, not revealing cards face up until X condition. This card works for Captain N'ghathrodfoil, since the cards are still in the 'library zone' when they are revealed before they are put into the graveyard, but it's not technically Mill, so it's not as useful in this deck, since there are multiple cards that care specifically about Milling (Zellix, Sanity Flayerfoil).

  • Sygg, River Cutthroat - A great interpretation of a Deep One from Shadow over Innsmouth, but not as impactful with the methodology of the deck.

  • Glimpse the Unthinkable - Thematically on point, but only hits one opponent. More cards now can hit multiple opponents, which increases the odds of us stealing something with a bigger impact.

  • Jace, Unraveler of Secrets - Thematically great, as many of our Lovecraftian Protagonists are searching or studying secret lore and arcana. Unfortunately, there are too many other Jace Planeswalker cards that also aid in the Milling strategy, so unfortunately he's out.

There are plenty of amazing cards that have great Lovecraftian flavor, but unfortunately don't work well with the plan of the deck.

  • Krothuss, Lord of the Deep   - So flavorful! And so sad that I can't use it effectively in this kind of deck! Not the first time I've felt like 100 cards is too few lol. Having a Cult Leader flip into a Kraken Horror (read: Cthulhu) is very on-point for the Lovecraftian stories (The Shadow over Innsmouth and The Call of Cthulhu are the ones that immediately come to mind), but unfortunately, we don't have enough Sea Monster cards (Krakens, Leviathans, Octopi, or Serpents) that fit mechanically in this deck. I guess the only solution is to make another deck with Runo Stromkirk   at the helm.

  • Gisa and Geralf - Or any combination of these two siblings are great Zombie/Reanimation style commanders. Some of Lovecraft's stories, like Herbert West-Reanimator, would be better represented with a more Zombie/Reanimator-style EDH deck, but that theme can be focused on in much more detail than in this deck, which is why there are only a few references in this particular deck. Guess I'd have to make another deck here too.

  • Any of the Eldrazi Titans. Emrakul, the Promised Endfoil is included because of its story/lore wins, but I could only really justify putting one of these titans in the deck without it getting too skewed. Plus, Dimir colors aren't the best for ramping.

  • Gyruda, Doom of Depths - A huge flavor win, but ultimately not effective in this deck archetype.

  • Cosmic Horror - This older card is basically a Shoggoth! It's a big Horror, and you have to keep feeding it, otherwise it will retaliate against you! While the flavor of this card is 100%, that upkeep cost is really not something I'd like to deal with.

  • The Mimeoplasm - A great Oozing monstrosity similar to something from The Dunwich Horror that would be really fun to build around, but adding a third color would dilute the cards I've currently got.

  • Brine Shaman - "The shamans of Marit Lage do her bidding in secret, but they do it gladly." A perfectly thematic cult member! It's unfortunate that it doesn't contribute to the plan of the deck at all, but it's cool that it exists!

  • Nephalia Academy / Drownyard Temple / Hostile Hostel   / Westvale Abbey   / Pretty much any Innistrad Land - All of these fit with the Weird Fiction/Gothic Horror themes of Lovecraft's works, but they just don't work as well with the general theme of the deck.

  • Umbris, Fear Manifest - This card fits with the lore of the deck, but runs a little counter to the Mill strategy of the deck, since it Exiles cards. I might find a way to slot it in, but for now, I'm just thinking it over.

  • Eldritch Pact - This would be such a fun, thematic way to either win the game or knock out an opponent. The flavor is god-tier (or maybe Old One-tier?), but my main concern is that it only targets one player, so it's more restrictive than a kicked Maddening Cacophony or Breach the Multiverse. But, there is the option to use it on ourselves if we need to draw cards, or as a wacky combo piece to use with Jace, Wielder of Mysteriesfoil and mill ourselves out for a surprise win. Thanks to Chukklz for the suggestion!

  • Progenitor's Icon - An interesting mana rock. Casting our Horrors at instant speed would be ... horrifying ... for our opponents. Plus, this could represent some pieces of Lovecraftian lore, such as the idols of Cthulhu or the stone dropped by Captain Obed Marsh to form the contract with the Deep Ones.

  • Stitcher Geralf - A bit mana intensive, but for 3, each player mills 3 cards. Of those cards, we can exile 2 of them and make a beefy zombie token that can pair with Phenax, God of Deceptionfoil or Imperious Mindbreaker.

This is by no means a complete account of Lovecraftian relationships between the deck and his Cthulhu Mythos, but it should give the viewer a better understanding of why some cards were selected. There are many more cards in Magic the Gathering that would represent elements of H.P. Lovecraft Cthulhu Mythos, but not all of them can fit into a single EDH Deck or cover the different mechanics within the game.

If you are a fellow Lovecraftian enthusiast and/or have any suggestions on cards that fit within a story or general Lovecraftian theme, I'd love to hear them. Blue/Black seems like the best color combination for Lovecraft's works, but if you have other ideas I'd love to hear them. And if you'd like to learn more about the life and works of H.P. Lovecraft, as well as other Wierd or Gothic Fiction and Horror Stories, I'd highly recommend 'The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast (hppodcraft)'. Great stuff, super informative. Now rebranded as 'Strange Studies of Strange Stories'

Obligatory note: While the works of H.P. Lovecraft are an important addition to the genre of horror and weird fiction, the man himself was not the best. A notorious racist and bigot, many of his works have negative portrayals of non-Anglo-Saxton races (The infamous name of the narrator's cat in 'Rats in the Walls' should tell you enough). If that proves to be a deal-breaker in an attempt to learn more about H.P. Lovecraft, the Cthulhu Mythos, or other Weird Fiction from the early 1900's, that is entirely your prerogative and right should you choose not to learn more.

Suggestions

Updates Add

Comments

Attention! Complete Comment Tutorial! This annoying message will go away once you do!

Become a supporter of TappedOut and hide ads for only $3/month!

Important! Formatting tips — Comment Tutorial — markdown syntax

Please login to comment

Revision 32 See all

(6 months ago)

+1 Soporific Springs main